'BULL' MARKET: Middle linebacker Keith Bulluck, whom the Giants signed on Saturday, said isn't intimidated about playing in the New York City area. Photo: EPA

He needs to be here just as badly as he’s needed here.

That’s the rationale of Keith Bulluck, the newest member of the Giants, if healthy their starting middle linebacker and a player who will never say he has been blind-sided by anything the big, bad city throws at him.

“One thing about New York, you can’t BS people and I’m not about that,” Bulluck said yesterday. “This is what I need for me. I need to be somewhere where there are high expectations, not just from the organization but from the fans. This is another part of my challenge.”

Some athletes back away from New York, but Bulluck — born and raised in Rockland County — is embracing his return after 10 seasons establishing himself as a fine linebacker for the Titans. On Saturday, he signed a one-year contract that can be worth as much as $2.5 million and understands what he already has accomplished doesn’t resonate much in this second chapter of his career.

“I know where I am, New York, so talk is cheap where I’m from,” Bulluck said. “The only thing I can do is go out and prove it with my play. I know I have to convince the tri-state area that I am the real deal.”

The Keith Bulluck who arrives this Sunday at training camp in Albany is seven months removed from reconstructive surgery (torn ACL) on his left knee. That injury, coupled with his 33 years of age, is often a toxic mix.

Bulluck scoffs at that talk.

“You know what, everybody else is more concerned with my knee than me,” he said. “In Tennessee, I always would talk about how I’m a Ferrari so my whole thing is the Ferrari’s just been in the garage for a few months getting a tune-up, blew a tire, but still has a lot of tread on it.”

Bulluck said his knee is 90 percent, and if it’s up to him, he will be on the field for Sunday’s first camp practice. It won’t be up to him, and it’s unlikely he will be given the green light for full-speed-ahead work just yet.

“I know they’re going to bring me along gradually,” he said. “It’s not about getting me out there and running me into the ground.”

Born in Suffern, Bulluck went to school in New City and lived in Haverstraw, Nyack and Spring Valley. “How about this?” he offered. “I grew up between exit four and exit 13 on the Palisades.”

More of a 49ers and Cowboys fan growing up, Bulluck couldn’t help but follow the Giants. His favorite all-time linebacker was Pepper Johnson “because he wasn’t the guy but you heard his name called a lot.”

And now Bulluck, presented with uniform No. 53, is in line to inherit the exalted middle linebacker spot with the Giants, with third-year Jonathan Goff and rookie Phillip Dillard as his main competition.

“Being from here I know the standards, know the history of the Giants,” Bulluck said. “Playing middle linebacker for the New York Giants, especially wearing No. 53 like the great Harry Carson, says a lot. Says a whole lot.”

While choosing between the Giants and Cardinals, Bulluck said he had a 20-minute conversation last Friday with former Giants defensive end Michael Strahan.

“I think Stray is what took me over the top,” Bulluck said. “I signed a one-year deal, but that’s just on paper. I’m very confident I will retire as a Giant, and it won’t be after this season.”